With 45.5% female representation, healthcare company Haleon (24,000 employees) sits among the top ten of the U.K. FTSE 350 stock index’s most diversely represented corporate management boards. On 23 February, the FTSE Women Leaders Review announced that companies in the index now have 40.2% female representation on their management boards, and as such have secured the 40% milestone that was set in 2022 some three years ahead of the target date. thus achieving the 40% target for 2022 three years early. Brooke Finlayson, Haleon's Global Head of Talent, explains her company's methods for achieving this.
How did you reach the FTSE Women Leaders Review target so quickly?
Establishing a new, standalone FTSE 100 business last summer meant that we were in a unique position to assemble a Board with a diverse mix of gender, social and ethnic backgrounds, knowledge, personal attributes, skills and experiences, right from the start. Not many companies get to say that, so it felt like a very special opportunity. When forming the Board, we looked for things like extensive consumer/FMCG, international, innovation, digital, strategic and listed company expertise – but the need to assemble a truly diverse group of leaders with different perspectives and varied backgrounds was equally important.
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